


Destiny: Ablaze

by CypressFields



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Retainer, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Blood, Gen, Hey if you're a sucker for colored action manga-esque panels check this out!!, IDOLiSH7 Flash Bang 2019, Rain, Rate T for Blood, Reunions, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-06 22:03:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20298655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CypressFields/pseuds/CypressFields
Summary: Gaku, prince of the Yaotome kingdom, delivers news to King Otoharu that his father had planned an ambush on their kingdom, which will take place the day of. In response to the news, Otoharu sends out troops to defend the area which will be breached and overrun.Riku, one of Tsumugi's retainers, are one of the soldiers sent to deal with the threat. On the battlefield, however, he meets someone familiar... A brother loyal to the opposing kingdom whom he hasn't seen in so long.





	Destiny: Ablaze

**Author's Note:**

> Here's one of my pieces for the IDOLiSH7 Flash Bang [(@idolish7bang)](https://twitter.com/idolish7bang) for this year! BIG PROPS to the mods: [Trip](https://twitter.com/tripcreates), [Ghada](https://twitter.com/TsubasaRClover1) and [Kanero](https://twitter.com/Kanero16)!! Thank you so much for your hard work and hosting the i7 Flash Bang once again!!
> 
> It was super fun finally writing out this idea for the event and it was especially fun working with my partner Lizz [(@LizzIkanaka)](https://twitter.com/LizzIkanaka) for this!! She drew some beautifully awesome panels for a scene in this fic, so please check it out and give her lots of love!!!
> 
> Finally, shout out to [alcloe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alcloe/) (she writes Persona 5 fics!) and [Bunny](https://twitter.com/tenntenn_chan) for being my betas and reading over this fic!! <33
> 
> (Psst, [here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy039eKE5eo) the soundtrack this fic is named after, it's Destiny (Ablaze) from the Fire Emblem Awakening OST!)

Riku stares at the crowd in front of him. They are all soldiers of the Takanashi kingdom, standing upright and still. Their uniforms varied from being decked out in clad armor, to only wearing thin layers of clothing. They all are wearing the Takanashi crest, proudly stitched onto their chest, back, or armband. The soldiers are silent, waiting for commands. Riku can hear some of them quietly whisper or murmur to each other. He suspects that they're probably wondering why everyone was called outside the walls of the kingdom. 

In his peripherals, Riku sees Iori when he moves his head a bit to the left. They are about ten meters apart, which is how big the crowd is by width. Unlike the redhead, Iori is staring straight ahead. He's holding his partisan on the floor, its sharp tips gaping toward the sky and its butt pressed against the stone floor. Riku sighs as he looks forward as well. He repositions his longsword, the heavy silver blade shifting in his hand.

In between the two was King Takanashi, or King Otoharu, as he prefers to be called. He's the friendly King of the Takanashi kingdom, which has existed for centuries. Riku and Iori are the retainers of his daughter, Princess Tsumugi. Years ago, the two of them had pledged their lives for her and the kingdom, and the redhead can never forget about that day. Although, today is a rare time where they aren't with her. As her retainers, they should accompany her nearly at all times as possible.

Then, the crowd was silent, Riku could not hear a single sound from them. He sees two familiar faces walk toward the King. One face he sees often and one face which he rarely sees—Banri Oogami, King Otoharu's retainer and Gaku Yaotome, Prince of the rivaling Yaotome Kingdom. The presence of the latter seems to make some people in the crowd scowl. The three of them whisper to each other, low enough that the redhead can't decipher their words, and nod to each other. 

King Otoharu steps ahead and stares at everyone with a determined look. He then loudly starts off with, "I know you must be confused as to why we're going into battle…" The blonde man continues with information Riku and Iori had been given beforehand.

King Yaotome, also known as Sousuke Yaotome, is planning to ambush them by noon. King Otoharu is planning to fight back, so when they leave at the moment, they would be able to battle only in the ruins which is right outside the kingdom. He will send a little more than half the available troops, excluding reinforcements, to fight at the ruins and the other, smaller half to guard the kingdom's walls. Prince Gaku and Banri will lead the troops toward the middle, while certain special scouts, Iori, and Riku will guard the perimeter of the ruins, also known as merely the ruin outskirts.

Gaku steps in and continues off of Otoharu's informative speech. "Princess Tsumugi is safely hidden in case if my father's ambush succeed. Which, in our case, will not!" he confidently says. "She is also guarded by my faithful retainer, Ryuunosuke Tsunashi. I assure all of you that she is in safe hands." 

Banri then immediately mutters, "She also has Kinako, a reliable living being." His tiny remark earns a chuckle to be forced out of Otoharu's throat.

Prince Gaku paces in front of them. "You must wondering why I am going against my father. Well…"

Paying no attention to Prince Gaku's story which he knows already, Riku can't help but wonder where his brother is. Everyone who knows about Prince Gaku's occasional visits alone to the kingdom—Ryuunosuke apparently was so pumped about visiting the kingdom he hasn't been to in _years_, that he accidentally broke a vase—knows that he has two retainers like Princess Tsumugi: Ryuunosuke Tsunashi and Tenn Kujou.

However, where is Tenn Kujou?

* * *

Riku separates from his group as they planned to do so. He runs to the most right of them. The cool air continues to hit his face as he jumps over and push over the ruins of the old town. He's making sure to dodge moss on the ground and on the ruins, since they're sticky yet slippery. The redhead looks around and listens for any enemies or their footsteps. He knows that none of the Takanashi troops will appear where he is, unless he calls for help for sure. The outskirts of the ruins aren't particularly hard to navigate through because most of the stones aren't blocking much of the area. However, one can lose where they are due to how vast the area is. His sheathed sword bounces behind him as he dashes toward his destination.

The retainer suddenly feels tiny droplets fall on his head. They become more apparent as dark, heavy clouds move in from his left. Riku's more cautious his steps to be careful to not slip. He slows down and looks around carefully as the rain begins to torrent down. He recognizes a few broken pillars and the pavement to the left of him which start to lead toward the center of the ruins. It starts to smell damp and mossy starts making his nose twitch a little. He hears nothing except the rain's downpour, not even the yells of the battle which must have started already within the ruins.

Riku pulls out his longsword and the metal of the blade emits a high pitched sound as it slides out. He holds it steady in his right hand as he continues to observe his surroundings. The pitter-patter of rain doesn't let go as he becomes even more drenched. The stone visibly become darker as rain continues to drip on and off it. Dark moss start to sway off the stone it was clinging onto, the liquid turning into a sickly green. 

He decides to hide amongst two large pieces of ruin which had collided against each other. Right ahead of Riku is the cracked stone brick pavement, so he turns around and keeps his back toward it. From here, he shouldn't be seen unless someone saw him travel there. Holding the sword tightly in his hands, the retainer plans his next course of action. He predicts where an enemy could attack from where he is and where his blind spots would be.

The retainer listens for the sound of footsteps, the rustling of chainmail, the scrape of iron blades and for the sound of splashing against puddles. The pavement behind him is on lower ground, which would mean that it should be flooding with puddles by now. The clouds had become heavier yet the sky was still bright enough to see clearly. 

It used to be agonizing when waiting for an enemy to attack. However, sometimes it is a relief to Riku, since there aren't any signs of the enemy coming for him, at the moment. Unless the enemy had a long ranged weapon, it would be hard to attack from above him. Therefore, Riku constantly checks his left and right to not giving up a moment to calm down. The tension is high, rain continues to come down in torrential waves and—

Riku hears a small splash to his left and he immediately holds up his left arm, the metal plating on his sleeve facing outward. He then hears two more steps: one behind, then one to his right. He swings his sword toward the right while holding his arm to the left. Whoever had planned to attack immediately jumped back, smoothly skidding against the ground. Riku looks up at his opponent and nearly drops his sword.

Standing in front of him is his brother, Tenn. The first thing Riku notices is how much he had aged over the years. His features had become more chiseled, what used to be chubby cheeks now are sculpted, supported with a strong jawline. His body shape had become more lithe, yet clearly strong, defined by his thin clothing. Tenn is positioned into a tense battle stance, his knees slightly bent and with one foot in front of the other. He's holding his rapier out toward his younger brother, ready to attack. He also doesn't seem to mind that he is facing Riku as he wears a poker face.

The redhead fixes his stance and calms down. He honestly doesn't want to fight his brother, who silently glaring at him with piercing leopard eyes. Riku's breath hitches as he thinks of something to say. It's been six years since he had last seen that pink head. He bites his lap as Tenn stays, unmoving. 

"Why aren't you with Prince Gaku?" Riku asks as he keeps his sword steady in his grip. Ruby eyes squint through the rain while cold droplets drip down his locks. 

Tenn doesn't answer immediately. In fact, the twins start to pace themselves in a circle, walking clockwise. Then, Riku stops as he nearly walks into a large broken piece of stone. The older twin abruptly takes this chance to get first blood, he leaps forward and rapidly thrusts his rapier at Riku. Reacting a second too late, the latter gets cut on his upper arm. It's not deep enough to create a nasty gash on his arm, however, it still stings.

The younger retainer is melancholic, frustrated and more so confused. This strange mix of emotions urge him to fight and yell at Tenn, thrashing about. There is adrenaline pumping through his veins, livening him up.

Riku frowns and grits his teeth as he just barely dodges. He hisses as his blood stains his sleeve and mixes with water. They ready their swords again, the rain washing away the blood on Tenn's weapon. 

At last, the latter replies, "Because I am following Lord Yaotome's orders." It was a short strong answer, laced with no emotion. He doesn't sound like what Riku last remembered. Tenn sounds lifeless, yet confident and outright professional. He sounds nothing like Ryuu, one of the friendliest retainers he knows of. He briefly wonders how Tenn and Gaku had ever got along.

"But aren't you supposed to protect and be with Prince Gaku, the man you vowed your life to?" Riku asks through the rain. Although, he more so yells because of the heavy rain and his confused emotions. It's like code passed down through generations that retainers vow their lives to who they were selected for. They were trained to protect and sacrifice themselves for others.

Tenn swings his rapier again, swishing through thin air and heavy rain. This time Riku is able to block it, holding his arm out. The rapier is only able to scrape his arm's armor and hit Riku's pauldron. Before Riku could swing his longsword at him, Tenn dodges quickly.

The redhead is at a clear disadvantage. Rapiers are light and quick, while longswords are heavy and moderately slow. Although, it's not like Riku is trying to kill him, he just needs Tenn to forfeit, which will surely be difficult.

"Ah, but a retainer's duty is to follow the King or Queen, despite their Prince or Princess." _Who taught him that?_ "Besides, they are the ones who choose who you will protect." Tenn had a point, but it still conflicted with Riku's opinion. 

The former attacks again, clearly being the aggressor. Judging by his low stance, he seems to be planning to attack from underneath. Riku plans to block him with his sword and kick him. However, Tenn hops right before reaching Riku and instead slashes in the air. The younger twin clumsily blocks with his longsword and nearly buckles his knees in doing so. He curses himself for not predicting that Tenn will do a feint. The pink haired retainer starts to thrust his leg toward Riku, however, the latter pushes his sword and pushes Tenn off, as well. Longswords have the advantage of having more power, after all.

Riku genuinely doesn't want to kill his brother, to harm him. The fact that he's currently fighting him literally tugs his heartstrings, hard. However, he keeps these hesitant feelings to himself and continues to block and fight on.

At an instant, Tenn rolls away and stands up. With his clothes dirty with grime, he asks, "Are you planning not to attack me? You are surely needed on the battlefield." He doesn't even sound a bit annoyed and his stoic expression doesn't change.

Riku shakes his head and replies, "I don't hurt my family." It's a sweet and short answer, filled with emotion. He feels like Tenn had become some sort of machine. Where was the sweet voice who used to sing lullabies to him? Where was the boy who had promised Riku that he would always be with and protect him?

The older twin tsks and dashes toward Riku again, who back steps and blocks. They go at this for a while, which earns Riku a couple of cuts to his body. His clothes open up with more cuts as they start to stain from blood. It's not a lot, but enough to be noticeable.

"Why aren't you attacking me?" Tenn asks once more, this filled with aggression. "You are supposed to protect your kingdom, your Princess, with your life." He misses when Riku turns to his right instead of stepping backwards. Instead of taking the full opportunity to wound Tenn, Riku steps back. With furrowed eyebrows, Tenn follows swiftly.

Tenn stops after he realizes that he's stepping down to the pavement, Riku waiting. "There are no obstacles here, except the fallen pillars two or three meters away from here," the latter explains. The other hums in acknowledgement. 

Riku doesn't walk back, this time. Nor does he block, but fights back as well. However, he's careful not to deeply harm the other. Tenn chuckles as he sees his brother fight him. He's wearing a small smile, small enough to go unnoticed by Riku as the two are moving around each other rapidly. The redhead doesn't want to keep fighting, nor does he want to surrender. His emotions are twisting in knots, gnawing at each other. However, he has a plan to end this, end it all, but need to keep fighting back for it to work.

Their bodies are twisting around each other and their swords _shing_ and _swish_ against each other, trying to locate a weak point. Both ruby and rouge eyes make eye contact, analyzing each move. The rainwater underneath them splashes wildly as they dance together. It's a deadly dance, with their swords aiming to cut, slash, and stab. The two twins grunt with every move they make, dodging and attacking.

Finally, one pins the other down. Tenn's rapier manages to cut the side of Riku's wrist, which causes the redhead to instantly drop his sword by accident. Before, Tenn had been slicing away at Riku's right glove, which he should've noticed and should've seen coming.

Riku doesn't move as Tenn holds his right arm and body against his and points his sword at the other's neck. In fact, it is nearly touching his skin, right under his chin. "You've lost," Tenn murmurs next to his younger brother's ear. Both of their eyes are low lidded and Riku has his head tipped down. Rain continues to drip down all over their faces and bodies.

"Why didn't you attack me when you had gotten the chance to last time?" Tenn growls. The pink haired brother is definitely open when he missed, so the fact that Riku didn't follow up with an attacked messed with him. The redhead is silent with quivering lips as he looks down. His body is littered with cuts and his longsword is too far to reach. "If you try to move down to pick up your sword, your head will be sliced off," Tenn informs. "And if you try to move back, I'll push you back."

Surprisingly, Tenn seems to be stalling. They both remain silent as the sound of dropping rain drown their ears. They can feel water flood around their boots, not quite seeping through. The older twin has his teeth visibly gritting and his grip on his rapier seem to be wavering. Despite looking down, Riku notices that Tenn isn't feinting his hesitation to kill him. His cool facade is melting.

However, Tenn is keeping a hard and steady grip on his rapier again. He slowly swings his silver weapon back and asks, "Why does this have to happen?" His arm stops moving when he retacts it the most he can. "Why do we have to meet again like this…?" He ends his question in a small whimper. 

Both twins' eyes are glassy with salty tears threatening to fall. Riku inhales and exhales slowly, catching Tenn's attention.

"I'm sorry."

Riku suddenly pulls out a dagger from behind and stabs Tenn in the stomach before he could react. The latter loses his grip and drops his rapier as he falls onto stone brick with a splash. He doesn't move nor speak, as he is still in shock.

"You had told me that I'm supposed to protect my kingdom and my Princess with my life," Riku says with the dagger in his hand. His eyes shine with determination. "And I did. I will not throw away my life to you." He's crying, they're both crying, their faces are messy and red as rain and tears flow down their face. The both of them had never wanted to meet again like this, but one of them knew for sure that it was inevitable.

Riku drops down to his knees and leans toward his brother in a panic. He pushes Tenn's head onto his lap and stares at the wound. He had never wanted to do this, but it was necessary. To make his brother forfeit, he needed to significantly injure his brother without completely killing him.

That plan lead to this sight in front of him. Riku's eyes are closed, whispering "_I'm sorry_" repeatedly in a frantic mess as tears continue to flow onto his brother. His blood creates a small, red puddle around them, which mixes with the rainwater.

"I'm proud… of you, Riku."

Riku's eyes open to see Tenn smiling up at him. His feline eyes are glistening up at him, both proud and sorrowful. He then takes his brother's hand and softly says, "Don't cry. I'm still here with you." He breaks into a chuckle when he turns his head around as tears drip from his eyes.

Riku chuckles and wipes his tears. He starts sniffing as he wipes Tenn's eyes as well. They both look up at the sky and notice that the rain is letting lighter. Light seeps in from above and through the clouds, sunshine hitting the two of them.

They don't remove the dagger from Tenn's stomach since he will bleed more. They wait for help as they watch the sky clear out when the rain stops.

Riku silently hopes that everyone is okay and that King Yaotome's ambush will not be successful. He also hopes that everyone won't catch a cold from this rain. 

Personally, he hopes that his brother will not die.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! As I said, I really had fun writing the fic and working together with [Lizz](https://twitter.com/LizzIkanaka). Please support her by liking and retweeting her art! [Here (NOTE: Unedited)](https://twitter.com/LizzIkanaka) is their own tweet with her art for the Flash Bang ;w;
> 
> Hey, please check out my other fic ([The Other Paradise](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20307736)) and the fic I drew for ([Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20288137) by [seke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seke)) which were written for this year's Flash Bang! Also, please check out my fic from the previous year's Flash Bang ([Death's Doorstep](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16729863)) as well as the fic I drew for last year ([the distance only he sees](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16793251) by [jeien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeien))!
> 
> \---
> 
> Check out my stuff, if you want!
> 
> [IDOLiSH7 Discord server](https://discord.gg/edv8r9T)  
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> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/_nuggete)  
[Tumblr](https://nuggete.tumblr.com)  
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